Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by HerCampus and Affinitas. All opinions are my own.

Now that I work two shifts, one in the office and one as a cross country coach, I need to get all my gym stuff ready in the morning and bring it with me. I go directly to the gym or for a run after work.

Here’s a peek into what I have in my gym bag at the moment:

Side note: I love my hair brush that says “Is it Friday yet?” No really….is it?

Anyway, here are the items that are always in my bag starting from top left:

Sports bra

Small towel

Workout top

Workout shorts

FlipBelt for my runs

Hair brush

Deodorant

Change of clothes for after my shower

I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve meant to shower at the gym and forget something, like my towel or underwear…ugh the worst.

What? Cupcake Panties? Yes you heard me right. Now, if you’re like me, you may have immediately thought these were some sort of edible underwear or something. They’re not. They’re underwear that come in a little cupcake packaging, which makes it the perfect on-the-go item to carry in your gym bag or purses!

It’s discreet and you’ll never have that embarrassing moment of grabbing something out of your bag and accidentally pulling your underwear out as well.

I really do love the packaging, and the underwear is super cute too! Cupcake Panties come in lacy hipster and lacy thongs, so you can keep them in your bag and always be prepared.

I personally love these because, as I mentioned above, I have pulled stuff out of my bag before and had my underwear come out too. This also happens probably because sometimes I pack my gym clothes in my normal bag, but still. The cupcake packaging is cute and very useful! I plan on keeping these in my gym bag so I’m prepared next time I need to shower at the gym.

I actually completed all my runs this week! I had been slacking the previous weeks and set a goal to get serious this past week. I missed 1 XT and 1 lifting session, but the runs are the most important right now.

Monday: 3 mile easy run. This was tough. It was so hot and I haven’t been running at all in the heat. At mile 2 I was walking and told my mom we should just do fartleks to finish up, that way we could take walk breaks.

Tuesday: 3 mile run. Still hot out but felt better on this run. We ran 3 miles to the gym and did some lifting afterwards which consisted of:

Leg press

Leg curl

Dumbbell bench press

Single arm row

Bicep curls

Tricep extensions

Back extensions

Wednesday: Rest day!

Thursday: 3 mile run. Felt awesome! First time we’ve ran an easy run in the 10s. It was also cooler out which got me so excited for fall.

Friday: Was supposed to run but moved it to Saturday. So technically should have done XT today but was out all day running errands with my mom so it didn’t happen.

Saturday: Sigh…shins were hurting. Ran in the morning, but only did 2.5 miles which felt like a struggle. At least I had a great view!

Sunday: THE FIRST TIME I HAVE EVER FALLEN WHILE RUNNING. Which is why I only did 4.5 miles instead of 5. We decided to do our run on a local trail. At mile 4.5 I tripped over some rock or something and ate it. It’s so weird because the whole way I was watching my footing. I was honestly a little scared because I looked at my elbow and it had a huge bump on it immediately. Thankfully just a few cuts and bruises which are now pretty sore but it’s fine. Besides that it was a pretty scenic (and tough) run!

Overall a good week of training and getting back into the swing of things. Shins are a bit sore but that’s expected. Ready to crush this upcoming week!

One last thing…you need to read this review of the FlipBelt. People…if you run, you need this. I love it.

I actually have been wanting to try FlipBelt for a while, but since I already had a SPIbelt, I was waiting until that broke or something to buy another type of belt. I was asked to review FlipBelt and of course said yes!

Not gonna lie – I like FlipBelt better than SPIbelt (and so did my mom who also tried it on a run). The only downside (if you can even call it that), is that you don’t clip it on like a belt, you have to step into it and pull it up (like pants). That’s really the only thing I can think of. I ordered the Aqua FlipBelt in a size Medium.

It has pockets all around the belt which means it can hold a bunch of stuff. I ran with my phone (Galaxy S4 which is huge) and key. You could easily fit more in it, like ID, money, gels, etc.

Took pictures with my phone, so the iPhone is shown here in the pocket. All the pockets are connected too, so if you put it in one pocket, you are able to reach in from the other side to get it out too (like a hoodie/sweatshirt pocket).

Obviously didn’t run with my key hanging out like that but wanted to show the pocket There is also a key hook inside if you want to hook your key onto something.

I also really liked that my phone didn’t bounce around while I was running. That happens sometimes with the SPIbelt, mainly because my phone is too big for it.

This is great for things besides running too. I fully intend to take it to the gym so I can have my music while lifting. No more bulky arm bands or putting your phone into your sweaty waistband (or is that just me?). I’m sure this would be convenient for traveling as well. I love the look of it and how it looks just like it could be your pants waistband. They come in all different colors too.

This is how much I loved FlipBelt!

My mom is not the best at taking action photos so that’s the best we got…no really, look at how many takes this took:

Anyway, if you want to order a FlipBelt, now’s your chance! They are offering my readers a 10% discount on purchases with the code Sweat33 until Sept. 7.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a FlipBelt; all opinions are my own.

Do you use a belt or something similar while running?

What do you use to carry gels/water on long runs? I’m considering trying out aCamelBak eventually?